An international bestseller and the basis for the hugely successful film Ken Kesey s One Flew Over the Cuckoo s Nest is one of the defining works of the 1960s. In this classic novel Ken Kesey s hero is Randle Patrick McMurphy a boisterous brawling fun-loving rebel who swaggers into the world of a mental hospital and takes over. A lusty life-affirming fighter McMurphy rallies the other patients around him by challenging the dictatorship of Nurse Ratched. He promotes gambling in the ward smuggles in wine and women and openly defies the rules at every turn. But this defiance which starts as a sport soon develops into a grim struggle an all-out war between two relentless opponents: Nurse Ratched backed by the full power of authority and McMurphy who has only his own indomitable will. What happens when Nurse Ratched uses her ultimate weapon against McMurphy provides the story s shocking climax. BRILLIANT! --Time A SMASHING ACHIEVEMENT...A TRULY ORIGINAL NOVEL! --Mark Schorer Mr. Kesey has created a world that is convincing alive and glowing within its own boundaries...His is a large robust talent and he has written a large robust book. --Saturday Review